Registering To Vote Will Soon Be Paperless for Californians

Californians can soon register to vote completely online. Paperless registration will be available to anyone who has a California driver’s license or ID.

Since 2009 Californians have been able to go online and fill out a form as part of the voter registration process. But signatures had to be mailed or delivered to county elections officials. Secretary of State Debra Bowen will soon roll out the next step, which would allow Californians who have a driver’s license or ID to hit “send” at the end of their online form.

“With a generation that is almost born with their thumbs on a keyboard it’s second nature for them to do things online, so I think it’s going to be very effective.”

Bowen says more than 500,000 Californians have registered using the online form, she expects the next step to attract even more. She says online voter registration helps improve accuracy by eliminating typos or misread handwriting. And county elections officials should save time and money on data entry.